Sudan says repulses rebel attack in border state

KHARTOUM/BENTIU, South Sudan - Sudan said on Sunday it had repulsed a "major" rebel attack on a strategic town in its South Kordofan state, the latest outbreak of violence in its volatile border area with South Sudan.

Rebels had launched an attack on Talodi, a border town the rebels have repeatedly tried to seize, Sudanese army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid said.

"Dozens of the rebels were killed. The army is expelling the remaining rebel forces," he added.

There was no immediate comment from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a rebel group who have been fighting the Sudanese army in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since last year.

Both states border South Sudan, whose own army has repeatedly clashed with Sudanese forces in the past few weeks, raising the prospect of a full-blown war between the two neighbors.